SOUTHEAST REGIONAL

SOUTHEAST REGIONAL; Michigan and North Carolina Regroup to Advance

By JERRY SCHWARTZ, Special to the New York Times

Published: March 20, 1989

ATLANTA, March 19—
Deadeye shooting by Glen Rice led the disorganized Michigan Wolverines past the University of South Alabama, 91-82, today and into the Southeast Regional semifinals of the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament.

In the second game, North Carolina, playing without the suspended J. R. Reid, survived a threat from U.C.L.A., 88-81, when the Bruins missed field goals and free throws down the stretch in the second half.

Rice poured in 36 points, mostly on jump shots, to help the Wolverines overcome a poor defensive strategy against a much smaller South Alabama team.

Steve Fisher, Michigan's interim coach, said he had some difficulties in his second game since the departure of Bill Frieder. Hard to Get a Handle

''Today, it was harder for me to get a handle on the continuity of our play at both ends of the floor,'' Fisher said. ''I don't know exactly what it was. We never seemed to mesh. It looked like two or three possessions we'd score and look great doing it, and all of a sudden you'd say, 'I think we're going to get on a roll and score six or seven straight times.'

''Then we'd turn it over, have them take a bad shot and get the offensive rebound to go down. From that standpoint it was difficult. It was hard on all of us.''

Fisher said the Wolverines' game plan in the second half was simply to put the ball in Rice's hands.

Junie Lewis, who was high scorer for the Jaguars with 25 points, said there was no stopping Rice.

''I tried to stay with him, but they set a lot of picks for him,'' Lewis said. ''A couple of those picks really hurt so I decided to start going around instead of through them.'' #17 Fouls in First Half South Alabama, which reached the second round by upsetting cross-state rival Alabama in its first meeting ever, took a 3-point lead into the second half, primarily as a result of Michigan's unsuccessful attempt to outmuscle the Jaguars. The Wolverines picked up 17 fouls and were outscored, 15-2, at the free-throw line in the first half.

The Jaguars' willingness to take punishment kept them in the game. With the game tied at 24-24 midway through the first half, South Alabama's Gabriel Estaba took a hard charge from a driving Demetrius Calip and then took another foul seconds later at the other end of the floor while hitting an off-balance jump shot. That gave South Alabama its first lead of the game.

But Michigan's defensive strategy was puzzling. In answer to a rain of off-target 3-point shots by South Alabama, the Wolverines sent their big men out to challenge the Jaguar guards in an inside-out zone.

The Wolverines' 6-foot-10-inch Terry Mills played at the 3-point line on several Jaguar possessions. That left the smaller South Alabama front line free inside to clean up rebounds.

Fisher inherited the head coaching job at Michigan when Frieder announced Wednesday that he would accept the head coaching job at Arizona State next season. Bo Schembechler, Michigan's athletic director, then refused to let Frieder coach the team in the N.C.A.A. tournament. North Carolina 88 U.C.L.A. 81

Jim Harrick, U.C.L.A.'s head coach, said Reid's absence made little difference to his team.

''They're a very versatile team,'' Harrick said. ''They've got a lot of players who play very well at both ends of the floor.''

The Bruins hit 64 percent of their first-half shots to build an 8-point halftime lead. But they went ice cold at the end of the second half, missing five of the team's last six field-goal attempts and the last five free throws attempted.

The North Carolina coach, Dean Smith, said Reid missed the team's 1 A.M. curfew by less than five minutes after Friday night's victory over Southern University.